The Black Rayon Challis Print -- Remade!

I couldn't take it.  I just couldn't take it.  I couldn't allow my pretty black rayon challis remain a wadder.  Not even for one. more. day.

First thing:  I cut the skirt off the Butterick 5181 Epic Fail Dress and just made it into a regular elastic waist skirt.  That was pretty easy and basic, and I've noticed in the past that rayon challis elastic waist skirts look pretty good on me.  They don't get too full because of the drapey-ness of the rayon, and I like the way they swish.

Then:  I used the couple of pieces of fabric left over from the Butterick dress to cut the top.  The pattern I used is the very first pattern I drafted for myself, way back in 1997.  It's still my best fitting shirt pattern ever.  Probably because I spent an entire winter perfecting it. 

The result:  An outfit I'm mostly happy with.

I like the v-neck.  I like it sleeveless.  I like the virtually invisible snaps for the front closure.  What I don't like is the mistakes I made.  I'll get over them, though, since they're mostly the kind of mistakes nobody else would notice.

What really bugs me is that I neglected to take into account that the pattern was drafted for cotton, not rayon.  Which means that the darts are not quite where they should be due to the nature of the fabric.  But since it's not that visible, I don't think I want to run the risk of ripping a hole in the fabric to take them out and re-sew them.  You know how delicate rayon can be.

On a whim, I decided to sew the top with all Hong Kong finishes -- in some pink floral binding that I cut a while back for some project that I no longer remember.  So the inside is a little interesting with all that pink.  Some of it peeks out on the right side, too, but it's more interesting than distracting and I don't think it looks bad.


All in all, I think it's a successful save.  Not perfect, mind you, but good enough to make me happy.

Pleated Skirt -- Finished!

I never mentioned I was working on this one, did I?

That's because I traced, cut, and sewed it almost entirely for the FNSI.  Rarely am I able to complete a project from start to finish in a single sitting, but it happened with this one.

Almost never do I wear short skirts.  I am 5'2" barely, and frankly, short skirts usually make me look even shorter than I really am.  And I was kind of afraid this pattern would make me look too much like a teenager.

I actually surprised myself with how much I like it.

The pattern is McCalls 4582 which appears to be out of print since I can find it on neither the McCall's website nor PatternReview.com.  Yes, it is a Junior's pattern (and I am definitely no Junior) but the size 7/8 was a perfect match for my measurements, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I've always been in love the pleated/kilt type skirts, but I also always had this idea that they wouldn't look good on me.  I decided to make one to settle the question once and for all knowing full well that I might end up with a skirt that I wasn't going to keep.

The fabric is a milk chocolate cotton twill bottom weight, probably bought from Fabric.com sometime in the last year or two.  It's your standard staple fabric, not particularly special but good quality.

I chose view E for the pleats and the belt at the front yoke, but I didn't favor the 3 inch wide belt thing with the gargantuan buckle.  Instead, I used 2 buckles with a 1 inch inside measurement and 2 "belts". 








And I traced, cut, and sewed a straight 7/8.  The only other real difference between my skirt and the drafted one is that I folded the pleats toward the center front instead of toward the side seams -- somehow I like that configuration better.  I also stitched the folds 1/8th inch from the edge to make the pleats stay put.

The only disappointment is that the back is not pleated at all--it's just a plain a-line skirt back.  Hm.  No matter.  I like it just the way it is.  A pleated back might lend just enough cheerleader-iness to make this skirt not work for me, so I think I'll leave well enough alone.
 

Easy Peasy Autumn Skirt

Ever find a piece of fabric that just speaks for itself?  Something that's so cool  you hate to cut it up and sew it together in some other form?

That's how I felt about this red rayon fabric with its fabulous leaves that look like they've been spray painted (what's that called when you lay down an object and then spray paint.  When the design is made where the paint isn't?)  I can't remember what it's called, but I absolutely love it!

A friend gave me this fabric a year or two ago.  She is an avid tag-saler, and she is always picking up some interesting fabric or other for me (she got me a gorgeous piece of silk brocade once -- I washed it and the whole thing rippled like crazy *cry* -- I'm saving it to make a fab lining for something).  Anyway, it's a luxurious drapey rayon and I absolutely adore the color.  I don't usually wear bright colors, but I just can't help it.  This one is calling me.

I decided to make a simple elastic waist skirt with this, since I thought something simple would show off the fabric to better effect than something more complicated.  Gores would disrupt the pattern too much, I think, even though style-wise I would prefer it.

I made this by hemming the top and the bottom first and then stitching six rows at the top with elastic thread.  Beginning to end...it probably took about 40 minutes.  Instant gratification  :-)

By the way, my waist isn't really that tiny.  The elastic thread sometimes has a mind of its own. Fringe benefit: Practically anyone with a hip measurement smaller than mine could wear this.  I've already gotten one request to borrow it :-)

I paired it up with brown and black here, because, frankly I haven't got a thing that goes with this.  But that's why I stash fabric.  I'm sure I can find something.  I'm thinking a brown, close-fitting scoopneck tee.  I don't have a pattern in mind, though.  Suggestions are welcome  :-)

The really cool thing is that I have nearly 3 yards left -- enough to make an Autumn Dress.  If I can just find a pattern that has simple enough lines...